Portable combination carpenter&#39;s work bench



Sept. 26, 1961 A. szoPo 3,001,559

PORTABLE COMBINATION CARPENTERS WORK BENCH Filed June 29, 1960 4Sheets-Sheet l HMM r www@ @ww Q QN um kwam .NN Nk UH V NToR. agilfana]Q30/170 as/Q @76V TroRNEv Sept. 26, 1961 A. szoPo PORTABLE COMBINATIONCARPENTER'S WORK BENCH 4 Sheets-Shea?l 2 Filed June 29, 1960 m l a NC@ORRVRNRB\ v\ A ,w 1 l 1 f N 1\ f/b J| 1\ /NB R RNE wm wm NW ou 645gINVENTOR.

ceandv/@fa BY E i ATTORNEY Sept. 26, 1961 A. szoPo PORTABLE coMBINAToNCARPENTERS woRx BENCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 29, 1960 @57%INVENroR.

15g-2;; ATTORNEY.

Sept. 26, 1961 A. szoPo PORTABLE COMBINATION CARPENTERS WORK BENCH FiledJune 29, 1960 4 Sheets-Shea?l 4 C57 C! INVENTOR.

BY :SZ/5a?? @hr/jim Z; QAM

' ATTORNEY.

United States Patent O 3,001,559 PORTABLE CQMBINATION CARPENTERS WORKBENCH Alexander Szopo, 346 Sudan St., New Brunswick, NJ. Filed June 29,1960, Ser. No. 39,636 2 Claims. (Cl. 144-286) This invention relates toa portable work bench particularly useful to carpenters and similarartisans. More specifically, it deals with a combination bench employinga narrow base in which angular grooves are cut and in which grooves maybe inserted metal plates adapted to protrude above the grooves and serveas stops and vise elements, either by themselves, or in combina- -tionwith other elements of the combination.

A carpenters bench is generally associated with a heavy unit which isusually installed, for example, in a hobbyists cellar, in a ratherpermanent manner. There has been need for a sturdy, light-weight,portable bench for such use, but, so far, there has been no suchsuccessful unit. Most of the difficulty in producing one generally stemsfrom the assumption that a wide table must be employed and that theconventional vises and vise grips must be used to obtain satisfactoryservice.

According to the present invention, a highly useful and sturdy workbench may be produced, which is still very light and readily movable byhandinto remote or often inaccessible locations. The bench features avery narrow base and very light, yet effective, vise grips and stops.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment is described, andin which FIGURE l depicts a side view of a bench of the presentinvention on which a wooden work-piece is mounted. FIGURE 2 illustratesa top or plan View of the unit show in FIG- URE l, while FIGURE 3presents a front view thereof. A top View of the base itself is shown inFIGURE 4, while FIGURE 5 is a top viewV of the forward end of the base,with the vise screw mountings cut away, depicting the manner of holdingthe vise screw. FIGURE 6 illustrates a top view of the forward viseboard, as mounted on the base, and adapted for mitering use, and FIGURE7 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the rear end of the base,showing optional use of the rear leg as a thrust element. FIGURE 8pres-ents a partially cutaway perspective view of a combination thrustblock to be used with the aforesaid bench, while FIGURES 9, and llillustrate side, top, and side views, respectively (partly incross-section), of the rear portion of the bench variously adapted forusing the aforesaid block. Similar numerals refer to similar parts inthe various views.

Referring again to the drawings, numeral 1 represents a long narrowboard or base such as a 2" X 4 mounted at S, 9, 8 and 9 to legs 11, 10,11 and 10', respectively. Legs 10 and 11 cross and are joined at 7,while legs 10' and i1 cross and are joined at 7 Mounted on top of theforward portion of board base 1 is narrow vise board 22 which preferablyis of the same width as base I, and which could be a l x 4". Mountedonto the bottom of board 22 by screws 21 are swivel mountings I9 and 19The latter hold threaded vise screw 5 which fits into channel 54 in thetop of base 1 and which screw rides longitudinally therein. Threaded nut6 (in which screw 5 rotates) is anchored in complementary recess 6 ofchannel 54. Since nut 6 remains stationary as screw 5 moves therein, therotation of screw 5 by handle 25 causes the screw to move vise board 22longitudinally over base 1. Pins 1-7, inserted laterally through base 1over screw 5, insure that vise board 22 does not separate from base 1while in use.

The top of vise board 22 is provided with narrow Patented Sept. 26, 1961ICC laterally-cut grooves 23, 23', 23" of `about V2 depth, into whichmay be slipped narrow metal strips 24 and 24. These strips are higherthan the depth of the grooves, so that they protrude about 1/2 above thetop of board 22, and thus serve as vise-engaging means, or as stops.Most of the grooves, e.g., grooves 23, 23', are angularly cut (at anangle of about -8S) into board 22 so that the metal strips 24 insertedtherein point toward the rear 20 of board 22, although one or twogrooves 23 (FIG. 2) may point in the opposite direction and mayaccommodate strips 24 which serve as stops for narrow work pieces, suchas slats or frame pieces, which may be laid laterally over board 22against stop 23 and be cut oi by means of a saw. When metal strips 24are inserted in the rearwardly-directed grooves 23, 23', the projectingupper portions thereof serve as vise gripping means, as will behereinafter explained. The rearward upper portion 55 of base 1 isprovided with forwardly-slanted grooves 12, 12', which are directed atsimilar angles but in opposite direction to that of grooves 23, 23.

Adapted to be disposed over the rearward upper portion 55 of base 1 isvise board 36 which may be similar to vise board 22, but preferablyshorter. The bottom of this board 36 also is provided with similarlateral grooves 56, 56' which are parallel to grooves 12, 12, so thatwhen a metal strip or plate 13 is inserted into a lower groves 12', itwill iit into an upper groove 56 also, thereby providing an anchor whichserves to prevent any longitudinal movement of vise board 36 on base 1.Yet, board 36 may be readily sparated from base i by mere lifting,whereupon -it is disengaged from metal anchoring strip 13.

VThe top portion of vise board 36 likewise is provided with grooves 26,26 which are closely parallel to forwardly-directed grooves 12, 12',i.e., oppositely directed to grooves 23, 23' in vise board 22, so that,when metal strip `27 is inserted in groove 26 of board 36 and strip 24is inserted in groove 23 of board 22, it is possible to inserttherebetween a work piece, such as board 2S whose ends 30 and 30 abutthe projecting strips 27 and 24, respectively. By turning screw 5 (bymeans of handle 25), it is possible to clamp workpiece 28 firmly betweenplates 27 and 24, and said piece thus is gripped adequately for planing,drilling, or any other carpentry work desired.

While working on piece 28, it is preferred to have end 2 of base 1 abuta wall 3, or other stationary solid object. Auxiliary leg 14, providedwith dowel portion 15, may be inserted in hole i6 in the bottom of base1 to serve as an additional support. In locations where a wall is notreadily accessible, for contact with end 2 leg 14 may be inserted inhole 31 in end 2 of base 1 (as in FIG. 7), and thus serve as a thrustsupport for the bench.

Wooden panel portions 32 having shelf ledges 32 may be attached byscrews 33 to legs 10-10 and 11-1i to hold tools or boards. It will benoted from FIGURE 2 that legs 10-10 and 11-11' are wider apart than attheir mounting portions 8 8 and 9-9, thus providing a more stablesupport for the bench.. For example, while the support portions 8-8 maybe 3%" apart, the legs 11-11 at floor level may be 20" apart. Also, legs10 and 10 may be about 20" away from their opposite mates 11 and 11' atVthe oor level. Base 1 may be 30"-40 long, while board 22 may be 18"-22"long, and board 36 about l0 to 20" long, more or less. The preferredheight of base 1 above floor level is about 36".

It will be noted that the work bench of the present invention is verylight, small, portable, and inexpensive. Yet, it is sturdy and veryuseful, even for the commercial home builders or for home hobbycarpenters. The work piece 28 not only may be mounted between plates 27and 3 24, but it may be mounted in space 29 between end 20 of board 22and either end 58 of board 36 or plate 13 in portion 55 of base 1,depending on the exigencies arising and the type of work to be done. Infact, boards can be Vlaid in-spaceS on the crossed leg pieces and cut oireadily and accurately.

As can be seen fro-m FIGURE 4, vise board 22 may have, besides thelateral grooves 23, several angular grooves 3d and 35 (i.e., groovesangular to grooves 23). When plate 24 is inserted in these angulargrooves, a board 49 maybe placed :there against and a mitering cut maybe made on board 40 for framing, and the like, by use of saw 41.

FIGURE 2 illustrates aicombination thrust sleeve or box indicatedgenerally by numeral .6th and preferably made of metal, such asaluminum, brass or steel. lt is made in hollow rectangular form and isadapted to slide loosely over base .1. This sleeve 60 has top 67,partial bottom 62, and sides 61 and 68. Top 67 has its rear end bentdown at an angle into the hollow as a rectangular flap 63, while bottom62 has a similar downwardly bent flap 64. It kwill 4be noted that bothupper and lower flaps are bent at the same angle as that of grooves 26,12, etc., so that one of these flaps may be inserted in a groove toserve as a Vstop or as a vise element, as illustrated in FIGURES 9-11.Actually, ap 63 is given a more acute angle than flap 64, since it musthave its forward end 66 in raised Yposition when it is locked in groove12.

As shown in FIGURES 9 and l0, flap 63 may be inserted in a groove 12,and the forward end 66 raised so as to serve as a stop for work piece28. This raising of end 66 is made possible by the fact that bottom 62is open at 65. Vise board 22, may then be screwed up tightly againstworkpiece 28 to hold it in place for carpentry. p

In FIGURE 11, block 60 is up-ended so that flap 64 fits into a groove 26in board 36. In this case, the rear end of block 60 serves as a stop forworkpiece 23, and plate 24 in groove 23 of board 22 serves as the othervise element between which piece 28Yis held, the tightening being doneby vise handle in all cases.

Thus it is apparent that, with the combination of elements hereindescribed, it is possible to work on all sorts of work pieces in variouspositions as the exigencies of the occasion require.

Although a carpenters benchvof regular size has been described herein,it is to be understood that a similar bench on a smaller scale for'useas a childs toy bench also is within the purview of this invention.

I claim:

1. A `portable combination carpenters work bench in which a workpiecemay be mounted, comprising a narrow board base, legs attached to thesides thereof and disposed wider apart at their bottoms, parallelgrooves cut laterally into the upper surface of the rear portion of saidbase and directed upwardly at a forward angle, a vise screw housed inthe forward end of said base in a manner so as to move longitudinallywith respect thereto, a narrow vise board mounted over the forward endof said base and connected to said vise screw in a manner so as to movelongitudinally therewith, a rigid plate of size sufficient to slide intoa groove and to project thereabove sufiiciently to serve as a stop for aworkpiece disposed between said plate and said board, and to hold saidworkpiece when said board is clamped against said work-piece by means ofsaid vise screw, and a hollow rigid sleeve adapted to tit and slideloosely over said base, and having a top, a partial bottom, and sides,and having a downwardly-directed flap projecting rearwardly from therear of the top at an angle such as to enable fitting of said flap intoa groove when the forward end of said sleeve is raised to serve as astop for a workpiece.

2. A portable combination carpenters work bench in which a workpiece maybe mounted comprising a narrow board base, legs attached to the sidesthereof and disposed wider apart at their bottoms, parallel grooves cutlaterally into the upper surface of the rear portion of said base anddirected upwardly at a forward angle, a vise screw housed in the forwardend of said base in a manner so as to move longitudinally with respectthereto, a narrow vise board mounted over the forward end of said baseand connected to said vise screw in a manner so as to movelongitudinally therewith, a rigid plate of size sufficient to slide intoa groove and to project thereabove sufficiently to serve as a stop for aworkpiece disposed between said plate and said board, and to hold saidworkpiece when said board is clamped against said workpiece by means ofsaid Vise screw, a hole in the bottom of the rear portion of said base,a separate leg having an end adapted to t into said hole, and a hole inthe rear end of said base and designed to accommodate the end of saidseparate leg which then would serve as a thrust element.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 298,560Doty May 13, 1884 1,191,687 Gillett July 18, 1916 1,574,528 Youngman etal. Feb. 23, 1926 1,810,995 Woelk .Tune 23, 1931 2,637,358 Larson -..tMay 5, 1953

